Top banks put euro-area crisis fund on track

Frankfurt

THE biggest euro-area banks will put 2.8 billion euros (S$4.5 billion) this year into crisis funds intended to keep taxpayers off the hook for meltdowns in the financial industry.

Fourteen German banks are contributing 1.4 billion euros, while five in France will pay 856 million euros and six in Italy 351.3 million euros, their filings show. German banks are paying more than twice as much as their French competitors when considering the levies as a share of assets.

Banks and their investors are being put on the hook for losses after European governments rescued the industry following the financial crisis, with 1.6 trillion euros, equivalent to 13 per cent of the bloc's annual gross domestic product, commi…